Members of the Melanoma Research team at Vanderbilt-Ingram include (front row, from left) Susan Knobel; Mark Kelley, M.D.; Ann Richmond, Ph.D.; Jeff Sosman, M.D.; Yingchun Yu; and (back row, from left) Igor Puzanov, M.D.; Yingjun Su, M.D., Ph.D.; Linda Horton; and Kathy Amiri, Ph.D.
Photo by Khristina Pince
The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center is joining forces with local churches, the Nashville branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Meharry Medical College and the Nashville Health Department to take part in next week's nationwide “Great American Smokeout” sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
The groups will come together on Thursday, Nov. 16, from 5-7 p.m., at Second Missionary Baptist Church for a community forum on smoking and how to quit, called the “Kick Butts Community Forum.”
Elizabeth Williams, Ph.D., associate director of the Office of Minority Affairs at Vanderbilt-Ingram, and Tonya Micah, office manager, are leading Vanderbilt's participation in the event and will be involved in the community forum.
The American Cancer Society says approximately 45 million adults in the United States smoke. Smoking is responsible for one in three cancer deaths and one in five deaths from all causes.
The “Great American Smokeout” is designed as an annual event to help smokers across the country take a pledge to smoke less or quit for the day on the third Thursday of November. The event challenges people to stop smoking for good and offers tools and program information to help smokers kick the habit.